Donald Trump is sure to announce another race for president to reclaim the White House. Notably, he would not be the first former president to attempt such a political comeback.
If history is our guide, then the chances of Trump coming back are extremely low. The record of success by former presidents winning a term after being out of office is limited to just one instance in more than 200 years.
The closest parallel to what Trump wants to reiterate comes from the careers of Democrat Grover Cleveland, our 22nd and 24th presidents.
Cleveland was elected for the first time in 1884. He won the Electoral College with 219 votes against the 182 electoral votes of his Republican rival James G. In 1888, Cleveland ran for a second term – while in 2020, Trump ran for a second term. Cleveland won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College vote to Benjamin Harrison. Despite Trump’s unfounded protests to the contrary, he lost the popular vote by more than 7 million votes.
With the 2024 presidential election, a little more than two years away, for the time being, Trump has made no secret of his desire to run for president again.
For Trump to win, they would need to get votes from a majority of Republicans and a large number of independents. The political landscape of 2024 is different than Trump’s in 2016, knowing what we know, will voters be convinced to take him back to the White House?
